'Ello, 'ello 'ello!

So you have returned? Perhaps you are curious to know how my search for inspiration has been going. Or, more likely, you want to steal my chocolate Hobnobs. Either way, come on in and make yourself comfortable.

The search for inspiration, if you're interested, has actually been quite fruitful. On Saturday I took a trip to the lovely Castle Howard, hoping to be hit with a blinder of a story idea. I wasn't what you'd call hit, exactly, but was more...showered, with a multitude of writing possibilities. I also had a rather scrumptious slice of ginger cake in the tea room, which is always nice.
The castle isn't really a castle, but more of a stately home. But it gave me an idea about working on a piece about the Tudors, (remember Katherine Howard?) or at least writing a poem about the peacocks terrorising my fellow visitors. Don't be taken in by their pretty exteriors. They can be pretty vivious. Really. I was hoping to get some ideas for the piece on Spring I have to write for next week, but although there were plenty of daffodils around, no.1: copying t'old Wordsworth would be a bit, well, unoriginal, don't you think? And 2. the weather was cold, freezing, snowy, sleety, wet, slicing, stinging, miserable and...yuk. So all thoughts of the joys of flowers and woolly baa lambs pretty much upped sticks and left my imagination before I had even got out of the car on arrival. It was a grand day out, though. Highly recommend a visit. Perhaps you'll be more inspired than I was. I particularly liked the lit open fires dotted all round the house; they lent it a realistic and homely feel. I can imagine listening to old yarns with a glass of something scrummy around those.

Yesterday I had one of those wonderful episodes where you really get into a story and don't want to stop. I finally became inspired after, believe it or not, watching Ratatouille on DVD a few days ago with a young friend of mine, and now I'm very involved in a not-so-short-story about some fun-loving mice. They're mice with attitude.

So, here's some advice for you, faithful reader. If your attempts to go out into the country leave your imagination unstimulated, watch a Disney DVD. You never know...

Happy writing, and see you next time!

Welcome back! Have a cuppa and pull up a pew.

Well, there hasn't been an Inklets meeting for a while, because the majority of our physical members are students, so we've all journeyed away to various parts of the country for a month over Easter. This doesn't mean we can escape the trials of writing though, oh no. We have two major challenges to tackle.
Firstly, we have to write a photograph. That's right. We have to find or take a photograph, and then write a poem in the shape of a photo describing the scene depicted by said photo. My problem is that I am an extremely indecisive person, and so far it's taken me three weeks to decide what to photograph, or even whether to find a photo or take one myself. The problem will hopefully be resolved tomorrow, when I take a day trip to Castle Howard. Those sorts of places always inspire me.
The second challenge is to write a piece on Spring. Have you seen the weather lately? I think perhaps now that wasn't such a good idea. Perhaps another chocolate egg will give my imagination a kick...
Anyway, apart from tonnes of studying I've had plenty of time lately to think about writing, and come up with some story ideas. I really fancy writing a piece set in the '80s, the decade I was born into. Perhaps I've been watching too much Ashes to Ashes and Back to the Future lately, I dunno. Anyone got any good story ideas for me?
Our first meeting back after Easter will land on St. George's Day. I love dragons. Never met one, of course, but I recently read 'The Reluctant Dragon' by Kenneth Grahame and thought how nice it would be to have a dragon friend who writes poetry... Plus he'd make a novelty replacement for my kettle. It's also Shakespeare's birthday on 23rd April. And his deathday, poor chap. Fancy dying on your birthday! What a present! I'm sure we'll find time in the meeting to raise a glass to him, and to the dragon too. He didn't deserve to die.

Happy scribbling, story fans.
Fancy becoming an online Inklets member? Just visit inklets.angelfire.com

See you next time!